David N. Ray

About David N. Ray

A creative catalyst w/ 43 Telly Awards and 18 years communicating for billion-dollar brands, I’ve now returned to the classroom - to raise up a new generation of storytellers. Before teaching I was most recently based in Atlanta, where I served for four years as assistant manager of corporate media for Norfolk Southern, a Class I freight railroad. As writer, director, producer, editor, and on-camera spokesman, I co-led our internal agency’s team of creatives that produced 100+ projects a year. Next I joined Southern Company, the second-largest energy utility in the U.S, as writer, producer, director and editor in the natural gas division. In this role I established its first full-service production studio and developed the team that won 41 Telly Awards in just six years. Prior to those media roles, I traveled the U.S. as a corporate trainer opening new markets for the Fortune-50 pharmacy Walgreens, and designed and led its 32-store management training program in Virginia Beach, Va. During this time I earned my Master of Fine Arts degree in Script & Screenwriting from Regent University, and then joined Norfolk Southern\'s corporate university as a classroom facilitator and instructional designer. Beyond my normal duties I wrote a cinematic edu-tainment script series, keynoted events as president of Toastmasters, and served as writer and on-camera host for the CEO\'s internal TV news program - and was promoted to help lead the corporate studio in Atlanta. Now I blend both passions - storytelling and teaching - to lead the Cinema & Media Arts program at my alma mater, Oral Roberts University, in Tulsa, OK. Within the College of Arts & Cultural Studies, I teach classes such as Advanced Television Production, Senior Portfolio Project, Production Software, Fundamentals of Screenwriting, Writing the Short Film, and Advanced Storytelling.

Experience

1. Program Director, Cinema and Media Arts

   Oral Roberts University

   May 2024 — Present · Tulsa, OK, US

Education

• Regent University

  MFA

  2000 — 2003

• Oral Roberts University

  BA

  1989 — 1993

• Maine Media

  Directing Episodic TV (1 week intensive)

  2014 — 2014

Skills

• Screenwriting
• Instructional Design
• Project Management
• Scheduling
• Leadership
• Railroad Industry
• Voice Over
• Project Planning
• Editing
• Budgets
• Employee Training
• Corporate Communications
• Social Networking
• Customer Service
• Entrepreneurship
• On-Camera Talent
• Training
• Public Speaking
• Management
• Community Outreach
• Multi-Camera Directing
• Strategic Planning
• Marketing
• Retail
• Nonprofits
• Team Building
• Creative Writing
• Program Management
• Public Relations
• Video Production
• Budgeting